BNP Paribas World Team Cup Junior Event to enter new standalone era
Fourteen teams consisting of 37 young players from 11 different countries are set to mark a landmark new era for junior wheelchair tennis, when the first standalone BNP Paribas World Team Cup Junior Competition gets underway in Belgium as part of a new ITF Wheelchair Tennis Junior Festival.
Since a junior category was first added to the ITF’s flagship wheelchair tennis team event in 2000, mixed teams of male and female players from eight different countries have been crowned World Team Cup champions.
However, separate boys’ and girls’ champions will be crowned in 2026, as the sport celebrates its 50th Anniversary, with eight boys’ teams and six girls’ teams taking to the clay courts at the Royal Zoute Tennis Club in Knokke-Heist.
The host tennis venue has a strong tradition of staging ITF Wheelchair Tennis Junior Series tournaments on the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour, most recently hosting a Junior Grade A tournament in April of this year.
As part of the first edition of the Junior Festival, another Junior Series ranking tournament was held prior to the BNP Paribas World Team Cup Junior Competition.
The Verhaege Cup was contested over three days (24-26 May), with the Junior Festival also including an exciting programme of clinics, interactive games, and engaging social activities designed to create an international celebration of junior tennis and memorable experiences, both on and off the field of play.
Players entered for this year’s World Team Cup Junior Competition include Will Barton and Matthew Knoesen, both members of the Great Britain junior team that was victorious at the 2025 BNP Paribas World Team Cup.
Meanwhile, Junior Grand Slam or ITF Junior Masters champions Seira Matsuoka, Lucy Foyster and Lucy Heald are all among the players nominated for the respective Japan, Great Britain and USA girls’ teams. Heald was a member of last year's silver medal-winning USA team.
The girls’ draw for the World Team Cup Junior Competition also includes a combined Team Europe team consisting of Spain’s Carmen Lobo and Sweden’s Emma Gjerseth.